Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley is a fictional character created and portrayed by

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

. Developed amongst

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

improv comedy troupe, Grimley made his television debut on the sketch comedy show '' SCTV'' in 1982, leading to popular success for both Short and the persona. Short continued to portray Grimley on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' and in various other appearances. The character also starred in

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

's 1988 animated series ''

The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley ''The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring Martin Short's fictional character Ed Grimley (with Short reprising his role as Grimley). The sh ...

'', and appeared in Short's comedy specials ''I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood'' and ''

I, Martin Short, Goes Home ''I, Martin Short, Goes Home'' is a Canadian television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Martin Short, which aired on CBC Television in 2012.Second City stage as an unnamed school parent in a sketch. Originally, his hair was simply very greasy and unkempt, but Peter Aykroyd, another cast member, joked offstage that the height of the hair seemed to increase with each performance. In an interview, Short said that he was inspired by a scene from the John Wayne movie '' McLintock'' and started greasing it straight up. Short noticed an incidental baring of his teeth raised laughs; that too became a character trait. Over numerous appearances, the character of Ed Grimley began to take shape. Ed Grimley is an excessively

cowlick A cowlick is a section of human hair that stands straight up or lies at an angle at odds with the style in which the rest of an individual's hair is worn. The most common site of a human cowlick is in the crown, but they can appear anywhere on t ...

ed, voluble, hyperactive manchild who is obsessed with banal

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, particularly '' Wheel of Fortune'' and its host,

Pat Sajak Patrick Leonard Sajak ( ; né , born October 26, 1946) is an American game show host, television personality, and creative consultant. He is best known as the host of the television game show '' Wheel of Fortune'', a position which he held fr ...

. He also loves to play the

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

, which for him consists of playing a recorded musical piece, striking the triangle once, and then wildly dancing to the recording. His catchphrases include "I must say", "let's face it", "totally decent", "makes me completely mental," and "give me a break".

Appearances

Short was added to the cast of Second City's television offshoot '' SCTV'' in 1982, debuting the Ed Grimley character in the skit "SCTV Movie of the Week: The Nutty Lab Assistant". Grimley became an ''SCTV'' fixture, appearing in the various shows, commercials, promos, and "behind-the-scenes" dramas that made up the fictional channel's programming. After the show's end in 1984, Short moved to the more prominent ''

'', bringing his breakout character with him. With Grimley, his best-known original character, Martin Short's popularity on ''SNL'' proved to be the springboard to a long career in film and TV. He appeared as Ed Grimley in his 1985 Showtime special ''Martin Short: Concert For the North Americas'', at Comic Relief 1986, and in 1989's ''I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood''. Grimley became a cartoon character in

's 1988 animated series ''

'', featuring Second City colleagues

Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born Joseph O'Flaherty, June 21, 1941 – April 1, 2024) was an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a write ...

(also reprising his ''SCTV'' character, Count Floyd),

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...

and

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American and Canadian actress, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and '' Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), '' Wag the Dog'' (1 ...

as series regulars. Short briefly revived the Ed Grimley role in his 1995 series ''The Show Formerly Known As the Martin Short Show'', for a spoof of the comedy film ''

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

'', and appeared again in a 1996 episode of ''

Muppets Tonight ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented comedy television series, created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. The series ran for two seasons between March 8, 1996 to February 8, 1998, originally ...

'', in which Grimley marries

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is a The Muppets, Muppet character known for her Breakthrough role, breakout role in the sketch comedy television series ''The Muppet Show''. She is notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, her tendency to use French l ...

to obtain an $85 inheritance from his deceased great-uncle. The character seemingly died later that year on ''Saturday Night Live'', in the skit "Ed Grimley in Heaven", though Grimley is brought back to life by his guardian angel (played by guest star

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

) after showing a video of Ed Grimley's life and commenting that he needs to do more with it before he can come back to Heaven. Grimley would however make a number of appearances in 1999's ''The Martin Short (Talk) Show''. Ed Grimley made a brief onstage appearance, triangle in hand, in the 2006 Broadway show ''Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me''. He appeared again in 2009's ''Let Freedom Hum: An Evening of Comedy Hosted By Martin Short''. Short reprised his role as Ed Grimley in a ''Saturday Night Live'' parody music video of Drake's ''

Hotline Bling "Hotline Bling" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake (musician), Drake, which served as the lead single from his fourth studio album ''Views (album), Views'' (2016). The song is credited as a bonus track on the album. It was made availabl ...

'' in November 2015 on the season 41 episode hosted by then-Presidential candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimley, Ed Saturday Night Live characters Second City Television characters Male characters in television Television characters introduced in 1982 Saturday Night Live in the 1980s

Appearances

See also

References